Christmas Gathering
by Lady1Venus
Summary: The woman's Association get into the spirit of Christmas when they rent out a hotel in the World of the Living for the Soul Reapers to celebrate Christmas.
1. Part 1

_Notes: A three-part story for Ankoku-Sensei in a trade for a holiday art. Notable pairings are Senna and Ichigo. Rukia and Renji. Yoruichi and Urahara. Orihime and Ulquiorra. Uryuu and Nemu. Grimmjow and Soifon. Karin and Toshiro. Nanao and Shunsui. Momo and Izuru. Rangiku and Gin. Was supposed to all be done by Christmas Day but that won't be happening. Will work on getting it finished as soon as possible._

**Christmas Gathering  
Part 1**

"What are we going to do this year? We are a week before Christmas."

There in the room of the Women's Soul Reapers Association, the women were discussing in what they should do for the Christmas holidays. There was only one week before Christmas and the Women's Association hadn't made any major plans. They needed to decide what to do and fast.

Rangiku looked at Nanao. "Why not have a Christmas party? We have one everyone year."

"We don't have time to get one ready," countered Nanao. "Not in seven days we can't."

"Why not?" Rangiku inquired. "I'm sure with our influence we could come up with something. Why not have it in the World of the Living?"

"Are you serious?" Nanao blinked.

Captain Unohana stood. "I think a Christmas party in the World of the Living would be a great idea," she agreed, speaking up. "What better way to bring in the holidays than to go some place where it's already decorated up?"

"Go there?!" It looked as though Nanao, Lieutenant of Squad 8, was about to have a heart attack at the idea. "That's completely insane."

"No really," Retsu argued, using her gentle influence like she often done. "We could just rent out one of the hotels and have it there."

"That's nuts! How are we going to pull off something like that?" Nanao was holding a drink and from her excitement, nearly was spilling it.

"Because I already did it," Retsu smiled, eyes closed.

"You…" Nanao's jaw dropped, dropping her drink.

"What!" blurted everyone else in the room.

"I did it earlier this year on the full intentions of planning a Christmas party there. I was planning it to be a surprise for everyone."

"Who's all invited?" asked Rangiku. "I mean the Women's Association has always planned the party for everyone in the Seireitei who is able to come."

"It will be the same as before," Retsu explained. "Except this time we'll have Christmas morning in the World of the Living."

"Wait…wait…wait…" Nanao lifted her hands, lowering her head. "Are you meaning to tell us, we'll have the party 'and' Christmas morning in the World of the Living?"

Rangiku grinned. "That sounds like a really good idea. We could stay at the hotel and everything!"

Nanao sighed in defeat, knowing she immeditely lost the protest against the idea. Whenever Captain Unohana came up with an idea, it was always a unanimous voting. "We'll have to send word out to everyone where this year's party will be held."

Rukia looked up at the mention of telling everyone. "Will Ichigo and his wife be invited?"

"Well of course!" Rangiku piped up. "It can't be a party without them."

"We shall invite the Substitute Soul Reaper and his immediate friends," Retsu nodded. "I have already done up the invitations."

"You're really on the ball on this," Nanao said.

Retsu looked to the Squad 8 Lieutenant. "I am Executive Chairwoman."

"Of course ma'am," the woman nodded. "So we have a lot to do til then."

"We can assign one woman from each squad to be responsible in making sure the rest of that squad is informed of this year's party. Between myself and Isane Squad 4 will be covered."

"Kiyone and I can be sure Squad 13 is informed," Rukia offered.

Kiyone grinned. "That we can do. Captain Ukitake will just love it."

"And I'll do my Squad," Rangiku grinned.

Nanao sighed. "Well might as well count me in, in making sure my Squad is informed." This was something she wasn't looking forward to. Her Captain, Shunsui, was often always interrupting her in what she wanted to say, even now with them being a couple.

Soifon sighed in annoyance. She often didn't like coming to these meetings and she knew the Christmas celebration was coming up. "Squad 2 is covered. And you can be sure Jaegerjaquezwill be coming as well."

Retsu looked around the room to some of the others and soon enough all Squads were covered in who would inform their Squads.

"With that out of the way, here are the invitations." She then handed around the stack of invitations that would be given to each Squad. The invitation was designed in various Christmas colors and artwork with a wonderful picture of a Christmas tree in the center.

Rangiku jumped up, breasts bouncing as she did so. "We should also have a secret Santa this year. But who should be it?"

"Who ever the secret Santa is will be someone no one will know of and it too has already been covered." Retsu never flinched with Rangiku's outburst. The Squad 10 Lieutenant could sometimes get a little too excited at times but it was often ignored other than by her own Captain.

"Captain, you've really taken a handle on the event," replied Rukia. "And you've been planning this for sometime."

Retsu smiled. "I have. As I've said. I wanted this to be a surprise. With most of this year being chaotic from various Hollow attacks, many of us didn't have time to plan much of anything so I took the liberty of putting plans together." She looked over to the young Kuchiki woman. "Would it be too much for you to also inform the Substitute Soul Reaper and his friends of the party?"

Rukia shook her head. "No. In a couple hours Renji and I were going to go there for a visit. So we can give them an invitation then."

Retsu nodded.

Yachiru grinned. "And don't forget the candy canes!" she squealed.

Retsu smiled at the young Squad 11 Lieutenant. "Of course not. Nemu, has the Department of Research and Development finished the request I asked for?"

Nemu nodded. "As per requested, yes."

"What request?" asked Isane, looking to her Captain.

Retsu looked to her Lieutenant, giving her closed eye grin. "That shall be a surprise for the party."

As Soifon listened, her thoughts began to drift to Grimmjow on how much he had adapted to his new life in the Seireitei. Life surely changed for him since the day the two met. As her thoughts were on the former Espada, she no longer was listening to the others talk about the Christmas party or any of the other discussions. Most of the discussions, she rarely got involved in. They were not her thing.

When the meeting ended, Soifon was quick to make her leave, heading back to her squad to see how things were fairing. She couldn't even trust her own Lieutenant to take charge for any length of time. Meanwhile Rukia left to find Renji in Squad 6 to head down to the World of the Living to tell Ichigo and the others the good news.

Rukia wasn't at Squad 6 five minutes before she came upon her brother.

"Brother," she called.

Byakuya looked up at the sound. "Rukia." His voice was sharp as ever, not showing any emotion. But it showed in his eyes he was a bit surprised by her visit.

"Have you seen Renji?" she asked. Normally she would have to refer Lieutenants by their rank but in the case with Renji, the formality wasn't necessary considering Renji and her were now dating. Of course she never used formality around him before anyway as the two had been friends since they were children in the Rukon District.

"I believe he's out back near the old training grounds for Squad 6," he answered. "I suppose you are here to see him so the two of you could visit the World of the Living together?"

Rukia nodded. "We are. Thank you brother." She gave him a quick respectful bow before turning and heading towards the back courtyard of Squad 6.

It didn't take her long to long locate Renji when she asked a few more members of Squad 6 where their Lieutenant was. "Hey Renji!" she yelled.

Renji, getting ready to train a new Squad 6 member, grinned as his eyes snapped around to fall upon one of the shortest female Soul Reapers in the Soul Society. "Hey Rukia, what's up?" He looked to the guy beside him. "Guess we'll have to train later."

"Yes, sir. I should get back to my duties anyway. Good day Lieutenant." He sheathed his Zanpakuto and left for inside the barracks.

"You fool!" she grinned, being sarcastic, hands on her hips. "Did you forget we're going to go and visit Ichigo and Senna?"

"No, of course not," he replied, seeing her teasing tactics. "But I knew you had your meeting today and didn't know how long it would take. Seeing you here must mean it's over."

"Not only is it over, but I have a message to deliver to Ichigo and the rest of our human friends. The Women's Soul Reaper Association has finally decided on this year's Christmas party."

"That's great!" he grinned as he sheathed his own Zanpakuto and walked up to his girlfriend. "So where is this year's party?"

She grinned at him. "Instead of me having to tell it too often, why don't you hear about it at the same time as when I tell Ichigo. He and Senna, as well as Orihime, Chad and Uryu are invited as well."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going."

* * *

Retsu and Nanao, donned in Gigais, left the Soul Society for the World of the Living. Though Retsu was the chief executive, Nanao was the usually the head organizer for functions such as for the Christmas party. Nanao needed to see where Retsu planned for her surprise and for the Squad 8 Lieutenant to meet the manager of the hotel the Women's Association was going to be renting for the festive season.

Nanao was completely amazed of the hotel Captain Unohana chose for the party. Her eyes were darting back and forth completely baffled by what she saw. She never saw such an exquisite structure before. The place was completely lit up in elegant style of holiday decorations.

"Lieutenant," Retsu said. "You don't want to get too overwhelmed."

Nanao blinked. "Oh, Sorry Captain. I'm just in awe about this place."

"That's understandable," Retsu gently smiled. "But we need to speak with the manager about our ideas and finalize plans. It's a good thing this hotel isn't often booked up for the holidays."

The two continued to the lobby, going straight up to a desk clerk. Nanao, knowing she couldn't really say anything nor could she over step the Captain's word, stood back, allowing the good Captain to speak.

"Excuse me," Retsu said. "I was wondering if you could get your manager. This is Retsu Unohana."

The female desk clerk looked up, giving a friendly smile. "Of course. You were in here just yesterday, weren't you?"

Retsu nodded. "I was."

The clerk gave a nod to the good Captain before picking up the phone and calling for the manager. When she was done, she looked at Retsu once again. "If you would like to take a seat over there, the manager will be with you shortly."

"Thank you," Retsu replied, before turning away, taking a seat on a comfortable sofa to wait.

The women didn't have to wait too long before the manager, who was lean built, grey moustache and short grey hair, stepped off the elevator, walking straight over to Retsu. Retsu stood just as he approached her holding out his hand for her to take. "Thank you for coming Ms. Unohana," he greeted formally.

"This is Nanao, who is often the head organizer for our get togethers," Retsu began. "I thought it best to show her what we've planned out for Christmas Eve."

"Yes, of course," answered the manager. He looked at Nanao. "I'm Akira, the manager of the hotel." He held out his hand for Nanao to take.

"Nanao," she replied back. "Ca…Ms. Unohana was telling me earlier she had been planning this surprise for everyone for awhile."

"Yes, she booked the reservations about three months ago. Would you like to see the banquet hall?" he asked.

With a firm nod, Akira escorted the two women up to the second floor to the reception floor, where there were a variety of banquet rooms and some were able to combine into one big room, which one was the one the Soul Reapers were going to use. As suspected the room was completely styled up in elegant Christmas decorations with a few Christmas trees. With the rooms being normally separate, each room had their own Christmas tree, which would give more than one tree for the Soul Reaper Christmas party.

"This is exquisite," Nanao said in awe. "I think this place will do quite nicely."

"I'm glad you approve," the manager said. "We have booked the entire third and fourth floor for your guests to the party. Each hotel room can accommodate two to three people. Now am I under the impression you will also be requiring to use the banquet halls for Christmas morning as well?"

"Yes," Retsu said, causing Nanao to drop her jaw. This was not expected. "We will be having Christmas morning here as well where we'll unwrap our presents."

"So you're renting for the twenty-fourth to the twenty-sixth then?" he inquired.

"If that isn't too much of an inconvenience for you." Retsu gave him her sweet smile, which often scared the crap out every member of Squad 11.

Seeing her smile, he just knew he couldn't refuse her request. "No. No trouble at all. As I said to you before, we are rather slow here around the holidays, so this will be a welcome change. But who shall I be putting the bill to?"

"Bill it to the Women's Association," Retsu answered, handing the manager a business card.

Akira smiled, taking the card. "I will be sure to do that. And I wish you both a very Merry Christmas and I will see you when?"

"The hotel rooms will be booked on Christmas Eve, but I require the booking of these banquet rooms, a day early so we can have time to prepare and get everything set up to what extra things we need," Nanao said, finally finding her voice once again.

"Of course, anything you need. Will you wish for a catering service as well?" he asked.

"Well if it's not too much trouble, we have our own caters," Retsu responded. "Which is why I wanted these rooms. It has a built on kitchen in the back do you not?"

"Yes, we do. It's not often used but we do keep it well cleaned, reserving it for banquets requiring outside service. It even has its own dishes. Would you like to see the facility?"

"Yes, if you don't mind," Nanao said.

The manager showed the women the second kitchen attached to the four banquet rooms that were being used for the party. Once Nanao was satisfied with what she saw, the manager then left, letting the women to return back to the Soul Society to begin the preparations of what they will need for the World of the Living.

* * *

Senna and Ichigo were relaxing in their living room with Orihime, Chad and Uryu. Once a week the five would get together for an evening to just hang out. They knew the Women's Association were soon going to hold their Christmas party and soon they should get word on where it's being held this year.

"We should be expecting Rukia soon," Ichigo announced.

"Oh, why for that?" asked his wife, Senna.

"Rukia messaged this morning saying she was going to her meeting with the rest of the female Soul Reapers and they were going to discuss where this year's party was going to be. She said she'd come down and inform us of when and where it will be."

"Wasn't last year held in Squad 1 barracks?" Uryu asked.

"And the year before that it was held in the field outside of the Rukon District main civilization," Senna added.

"Yeah, it was," Ichigo agreed. "Each year it's in a different spot, makes me wonder where it will be this year."

"Guess we'll just have to wait for when Rukia shows up and tell us," Orihime said.

The five continued to visit until the doorbell rang and Senna went to answer it. Not to her surprise, it was Rukia but with her was Renji, which she had not expected. She let the two in, showing them to the living room.

"Hey Ichigo," Renji called out.

Ichigo looked up. "R…Renji? What are you doing here?"

"Rukia asked me to come along," answered the red head. "So here I am though I am curious to know what she has to say."

Rukia smiled, seeing all her human friends. "Well since everyone is here, I don't have to wait any longer. Captain Unohana has taken the liberty of planning the party this year and it's something she organized quite some time. Her and Lieutenant Ise have come here to the World of the Living to finalize the matters."

"Why would a Squad Captain plus a Lieutenant come here?" asked Uryu. "That doesn't make sense."

"At first I was a bit surprised by this, but with it being so close to Christmas and no plans have been made as of yet, there's hardly any time to prepare. Captain Unohana has rented a hotel and the party will be held there."

"Are you serious!?" blinked Ichigo. "Rent a hotel!?"

"Can we actually do that?" blinked Renji, surprised by this as well. No wonder Rukia wanted to wait.

"Amazing. A party at a hotel," Orihime smiled. "Ulquiorra has never been in a hotel before."

"Well Captain Unohana was told by the manager the hotel is usually pretty slow at this time of year so it was easy to book up two floors for the guests who will be going be at the party the entire time. And Christmas morning we shall wake up and open our gifts at the hotel as well."

Senna shrugged. "It makes sense. Especially with the problem that recently happened in the Soul Society, most of the Soul Reapers probably haven't had much time to do much of anything and now that the dust has cleared, Christmas is now here."

"That is exactly why Captain Unohana thought of the hotel," Rukia agreed. "This way here we don't have to worry about decorating. She even already had the invitations done up as well and set aside invites for you all as well." She handed each human the invitation.

Orihime scanned it over. "It says here it's to be a semi-formal event." She then grinned wildly. "Maybe I can bring something."

Rukia inwardly cringed, knowing Orihime was big on making strange foods. "Orihime the only thing we need from you is your presence. You are a friend to the Soul Society and therefore are welcomed to come."

"Thank you Rukia," Orihime smiled.

Ichigo looked at his wife as Rukia leaned into Renji who was scanning over the invite.

"So Senna, guess you got your answer you were looking for on the when and where," Ichigo said.

"You bet. Rukia, you can be sure Ichigo and I will be there."

"I probably will go as well with Nemu," Uryu replied.

"Can you be sure to give an invitation to Kisuke and Yoruichi?" Rukia asked. "They were as much as saviours to the Soul Society as you all were when Aizen tried to conquer it."

Ichigo nodded. "I'll be sure to let Mr. Hat and Clogs know."

"Rukia, would you two like to stay for dinner?" asked Senna. "I am going to be making enough for everyone."

"We would love to," Renji spoke for Rukia. "I do like your cooking."

Rukia lightly laughed, also accepting. This Christmas party was going to be a pretty interesting one. Having many people from the Seireitei in the World of the Living for a party. Many will remain in the Soul Society, protecting it. Mostly the ones who didn't celebrate Christmas, but a good portion would be at the party in a human structure. And among the guests besides there being humans, there was also going to be two former Espadas from Aizen's army who flipped over a new leaf. One being Grimmjow, who was dating Soifon and the other, was Ulquiorra who was dating Orihime and living with her.


	2. Part 2

_Notes: A three-part story for Ankoku-Sensei in a trade for a holiday art. Notable pairings are Senna and Ichigo. Rukia and Renji. Yoruichi and Urahara. Orihime and Ulquiorra. Uryuu and Nemu. Grimmjow and Soifon. Karin and Toshiro. Nanao and Shunsui. Momo and Izuru. Rangiku and Gin. _

_I greatly apologize for the lateness of this chapter. It was supposed to have been posted Christmas Eve, BUT due to running around a like a chicken with its head cut off, I was delayed._

**Christmas Gathering  
Part 2**

Morning of Christmas Eve, the hotel the Soul Reapers were going to celebrate Christmas was bustling like crazy. The staff of the hotel were working on making sure everything was ready for the holiday party being held tonight and they had to be sure all guests who had been staying on the third and forth floor were checked out. By lunchtime both floors were evacuated of guests, ready for the reserved guests.

Shortly after one, Retsu arrived at the hotel, being the first Soul Reaper to arrive. The manager was in the lobby, ready to greet her. "Ms. Unohana, it's a pleasure to see you."

Retsu smiled at the man. "Thank you. Is everything all ready?" she asked.

"Of course, as each of the guests arrived, they will be required to check in and be given a key for their room."

"That's perfect," she replied.

This was going to be the first Christmas party where all Soul Reapers involved would be wearing Gigais. That alone wasn't a normal occurrence as most opt to remain discreet and undetectable by humans.

"Am I the first to arrive?" she asked suddenly.

Akira nodded. "Yes, you are. But I'm sure a few others will…" he stopped as a couple walked through the front doors. The man was extremely tall while the woman in his arms was quite petite compared to him.

"Soifon. Grimmjow," Retsu greeted. "It is wonderful see you."

Grimmjow grinned. "Wouldn't miss an event like this and it's here in the World…" he stopped as Soifon stretched up on her tippy toes, clamping a hand to his mouth, giving him a slight glare.

"Quiet," she hissed. No one needed him to accidentally announce he was not from Earth. "They won't understand."

Grimmjow grasp her hand, pulling it away from his mouth. "Bee, like they'd care what I'd say."

"Soifon has a point, Grimmjow," Retsu said. "It's best to work on refraining certain things, especially in mixed company."

Grimmjow folded his arms over his chest, giving a snort. "Whatever."

Soifon turned to the manager. "So where do we check in?" she asked a little too abruptly.

"Over there," Akira pointed, confused.

Soifon nodded. "Let's go, Grimmjow. We'll check in and get our things to our room."

The two walked over to the desk. The lady at the counter gave them a gentle smile. It only took her a couple minutes to get their names and give them a key on the third floor. To Soifon's relief, it wasn't long before the two were heading to their room just as more people from the Soul Society arrived to check in.

Upon entering their small room, they were quick to notice the room had two beds. But for Soifon and Grimmjow they would not be sleeping in separate beds. The two had been lovers for a few years now. In Grimmjow's mind they were married but legally they were not.

"Guess we have the room to ourselves," Grimmjow smirked as he flopped down on the other bed. He folded his hands behind his head, looking over to his girlfriend. "So what shall we do until this party starts?" he asked.

"We have the room to ourselves because this room is set for two people," Soifon said as she carefully pulled out the dress she was going to wear for the evening. "Luckily this was only in here a few minutes. Don't have to press it again."

"Could have brought an anti-wrinkle one, then wouldn't have to worry about it."

Slightly turning her head, she gave him a slight glare. "Why don't you go and get your suit out before it begins to wrinkle and then we'll go and do some last minute shopping?"

At the idea of going shopping, perked Grimmjow's attention. "That's an idea. Saw somethin' when we arrived. A good last minute gift idea and maybe get it, but ya can't peak at it."

Sighing Soifon shook her head. "Just hurry up with getting your clothes out for tonight. We won't have too much time after getting back from shopping before we'll have to get ready for the party, which starts at six."

Grimmjow looked over to the clock on the bedside table seeing it was a little after one. "We have 'bout three hours of shopping. Need time to get back, shower and get ready."

"Exactly," Soifon replied. She moved away from the bed, she had her luggage on, going to the bathroom to hang up her dress.

As she exit the bathroom, she saw Grimmjow was in the process of laying out his clothes for the party out on the second bed. He sensed her looking at him.

"You ready?" he asked as he turned to look at her.

She nodded. "Word of warning the malls will be very crowded."

"Like I really care," he shrugged. "Just as long as they don't get in my way, we won't have a problem."

"Well you'll need to show restraint around the shoppers and that means they will be getting in your way when you're in the line up to pay for whatever you want to buy."

Grimmjow sighed. "Fine. Good thing my Zanpakuto was left back in the Soul Society then, now isn't it."

"Good thing," Soifon remarked. "Lets just get going."

The Squad 2 Captain along with her boyfriend, left the hotel, heading to a nearby shopping center, which was crowded with last minute shoppers before everything was to close for one day to celebrate the holiday. Giving Grimmjow some money since he didn't have a job of his own, Soifon left the man, making him promise he wouldn't make a scene.

Grinning, now alone, was quick to leave, heading in the direction of where he saw the very thing he wanted to buy for his sweet bee. Wearing a Gigai, he was limited to how fast he could move, but he still made good timing as he arrived at the store, which happened to be a jewellery outlet and he walked straight over to a sales lady. "Excuse me," he said, a little too gruffly. "I saw somethin' in your window and I want it."

The lady jerked up, seeing Grimmjow right there in front of her. She gave a nervous twitch. Just one look in his eyes, she could see he was not the patient type. "And what sort of item would that be?" She stepped away from the counter, going over and then heading to the window with Grimmjow following.

"As I said," he half huffed. "I want somethin' in your window." He moved in front of her and began inspecting what was in the window. It didn't take him long for him to inspect all there was available from the window. Soon enough he grinned, finding the perfect one he wanted to get for Soifon, his little bee. "That one!" he exclaimed, pointing.

"Wonderful choice," she gasped, forcing a smile, startled by his sudden voice. This man was a bit too gruff for her liking. She reached over, unlocking the case before pulling at the necklace he pointed at. Taking it out of the case, she carefully held it in her hand as she went and locked the case back up. "Would you like this gift wrapped as well?"

"What do ya think?" he asked. "I can't let my wife see it."

She inwardly groaned, not wanting to say too much more to him as he was already intimidating her just by the roughness and abruptness in his voice. She walked over to the cash counter where she then pulled out a necklace box and carefully rested the necklace inside, being sure to secure it so it wouldn't flop around in the case. It was then covered it with a lid.

Watching her like a hawk, making sure she didn't screw up, he pulled out the cash Soifon gave him on the counter.

"Oh…" she breathed, not expecting cash, but a credit card. She had no idea Grimmjow had no such plastic card. Taking the money she quickly told him the price and pulled out what she needed from the money he laid on the counter.

What she left, he took and pocketed it. "Make sure to have it wrapped nicely."

"She must be very special." The sales lady then went over and wrapped up the item. When she was finished she handed the gift-wrapped necklace to Grimmjow. "Have a Merry Christmas."

"Yeah, whatever," Grimmjow nodded, turning to leave the store, grateful to finally be out of there. If his little bee were with him, she would have been proud he did not make a scene for once. But he sure felt like making one.

* * *

With her alone, Soifon now could do some serious looking for something special for him. Something she would give to him at the party. But buying for Grimmjow was a bit difficult. He was stubborn, but all men were like that.

Stepping into a man's clothing store, Soifon took her time in browsing around. She was going to find something for Grimmjow from there, as she really didn't want to go bouncing from store to store. As she browsed, she came upon a section of men's coats and jackets where one caught her eye.

"Perfect!" she rejoiced as she strolled over to a rack of leather jackets. Pulling one off, examining the make and design. Looking at it for a moment, she decided it wasn't the right one for him. She picked up another, examining it before putting it back.

"Is there something I can help you with?" a salesman came up behind Soifon. He had seen her eyeing the jackets.

"Perhaps," she said, without turning. She had sensed his approach. "I'm looking for the perfect one for my boyfriend. Want to make sure there's two pockets on the sides but thinking perhaps a couple extra pockets might work like one inside and maybe one near the top. But I don't want it to be full of zippers and buckles either."

Listening well to what Soifon was looking for, the gentleman began looking around on the rack for what she was looking for. There were so many different types of jackets and various colors. "Any particular color?"

"Black," she answered simply as she continued to look. She kept coming up on jackets with either too many pockets or not enough.

The two continued to look for several minutes. Soifon was beginning to lose her patience and was about to quit when suddenly the man picked out a jacket. "How does this one look?" he asked. "It has two typical pockets, a deep inside pocket and even a breast pocket. You can see there's only one zippered pocket and then a regular zipper and there's no buckles."

Soifon looked up to inspect what the man was presenting her. The second her eyes fell upon the jacket, she was imagining Grimmjow wearing it. She smiled. "Perfect! Thank you."

"Of course. And you're in luck as well. With it being Christmas Eve, we have a 30% off on all jackets and coats," he stated.

"Even better!" Soifon nodded. "Now, is there one in large size?"

"This one here is that specific size."

"Good." Soifon stepped forward, taking the jacket before thanking the man once again and headed over to the cash where she had to wait inline for a few minute before paying for the jacket. She felt relieved having found something that was perfect for him.

"How would you like this bagged?" asked the sales clerk.

Soifon looked at the man behind the counter. "Could it be gift wrapped?"

"Of course, you'll just have to go over there where we have a lady waiting to wrap for a fee of course."

Rolling her eyes, Soifon pulled out her money and paid for her purchase. She then went over to where she was pointed to go and had it wrapped.

With nothing else to do, she left, heading back to the hotel. Ignoring her comrades who were still checking in, she went straight to the elevators and up to her room to find she was the first to arrive. She wasn't back long before Grimmjow stepped in, grinning.

"My little sweet bee," he greeted.

She grimaced at him, not enjoying the pet name. "We still have a couple hours and check ins are still happening."

"Why don't we have a nice relaxing bath?" he suggested.

Thinking for a moment, she looked into his eyes before sighing in defeat. The two did need to bath up before the party anyway. And a hot bath would be good to relax her tired muscles. Stepping over to her, Grimmjow grabbed her hand, before going to the bathroom for a relaxing bath with his wife. Well in his eyes she was.

* * *

With evening was fast approaching, Soifon and Grimmjow were nearly ready. Soifon was dressed in her little black dress and where she was small chested, compared to others, she didn't have to worry about showing off too much cleavage. Grimmjow was dressed in a nice pair of grey dress pants and a nice white shirt. He kept the top two buttons of his shirt undone, but it still made him look good. With him in a gigai, it hid the remains of his Hollow mask.

Her hair wasn't tied back in her usual style but in braids, omitting the rings she usually used. With her ears not pierced, she donned on a nice pair of simple clipons, giving the look of pierced.

"You ready?" she asked as she stepped out of the bathroom.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he commented. He held out his hand to her. "Shall we go?" he asked.

Taking his hand, she gave him a nod and the two left the room, heading down to the banquet floor where the party was being held. It didn't take them long to arrive onto the second floor just as Yoruichi and Kisuke arrived from another elevator.

"Lady Yoruichi!" Soifon exclaimed seeing her long time admirer. The dark woman was one of the only women Soifon had ever admired and she was glad the misunderstanding of the cat woman's disappearance a long time ago was dealt with.

"Hello, Soifon. Grimmjow," the dark woman smiled.

"The infamous cat woman," Grimmjow replied.

Soifon didn't need to glance at Yoruichi's date to know who he was. She kept her eyes averted from the man's appearance, doing her best to ignore him.

"Why don't we go in together?" Yoruichi suggested.

"Not a bad idea," Grimmjow replied. "We are goin' to the same party after all."

Yoruichi smiled as she turned just as Kisuke placed his hand on her bare back, causing Soifon to shiver. How could the woman stand the man? Feeling an arm drape along her shoulder, she finally got her feet to move and walk into the hall where Nanao was already there with finishing up on setting things up.

The banquet hall was decorated in various holiday decorations, covering its golden walls. All along the walls were garlands of various colors with mini lights attached to them. Wreaths of holly with lights were pinned up on every pillar. A sky-high tree stood in the middle of the room with strings of beads and silver garland and ribbons were draped around in spirals. Various colors and shapes of ornaments and lights also donned the tree, giving it a very mystical affect. Assorted gifts were placed under there Christmas morning. Aligned along the walls were red sofas as soft as fresh flowers. Tables with holiday table clothes as well as holiday centerpieces were scattered around with a large dancing floor surrounding the large tree.

Not far from the tree was a fireplace with more of the red cushioned sofas. Perfect to sit by the fire and sip hot coco if someone wanted to. It literally appeared as if this was going to be the first best party for the Soul Reapers since they began celebrating the holiday.

Since the banquet room was originally a few separate rooms, there was more than one Christmas tree. Each of the Christmas trees that were set up for each room and were pushed to rest against one wall where the music was set up and over near the fireplace was another where there was another set of presents placed. Those presents were set up for the secret Santa that was planned for later on during the evening.

Soon enough more Soul Reapers arrived along with their human friends; Ichigo, Orihime, Uryu, Chad and Senna. Holiday music began playing as more presents were placed under the big tree. Sometime before the party was to start, Soifon snuck down to the hall, placing her gift for Grimmjow under the Secret Santa tree and unknown to her, Grimmjow did the same when he first came back from shopping.

Senna walked up to Yoruichi, taking a look around. "Wow! This place is incredible! Who did the work?"

Nanao walked over to the young human, overhearing what the human said. "Actually part of the decorations were already here, but then Captain Unohana and myself brought what we had and helped living things up."

Senna turned to the Squad 8 Lieutenant. "It's wonderful. Good job!"

"Where's Ichigo?" asked Kisuke.

"Hey! Mr. Hat and Clogs!"

The former Squad 12 Captain turned to see Ichigo come up behind his wife, wrapping an arm around her spaghetti strap clad shoulders.

Giving him a wide smile, Kisuke regarded the substitute Soul Reaper. "Glad you could make it"

"Handsome as ever, I see" Yoruichi tossed out.

Ichigo snorted. "Either you're trying to annoy me or for once you're being sincere."

"Well what do you think?" she grinned. "She leaned against Kisuke's shoulder, better revealing her halter green dress."

Ichigo shook his head and looked to Kisuke. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. Karin was excited to come as well and she will be here along with Toshiro."

"That's Captain Hitsugaya to you."

Turning, Ichigo saw the short Captain approach with his sister's arm looped with his. "Hey Ichigo," Karin said. With her being a tomboy she wore a simple black modest dress with cap sleeves.

During the exchange between Ichigo and Kisuke, Soifon took her leave quietly only to find herself admiring the tree. Grimmjow came up behind her. "What ya thinkin' about?" he asked.

"How nice this party is looking," she commented. "And it only just started. I think this might be the best one yet."

"It seems to be goin' off very well considering we're here in the World of the Living," he said. He looked to a few couples who were making their way to the dance floor as a nice melody began playing. "I see some couples are heading to dance."

Soifon looked over. "And your point?" she asked.

He grinned. "Let's go dancing!" He grabbed her hand, pulling her to the dance floor.

She smiled at his sudden burst of merriment. The two wrapped their arms around one another, began dancing, ignoring the other couples around them. As the two danced, he was quick to dip her at the end of one song, showing off, before lifting her back up and dancing into another song, pulling her away from him and then back into his body.

For an hour the two danced, swaying in time to the music. Soon enough, the music stopped and Nanao, using a microphone, halted everyone's activities. Beside her was her own Captain who was getting a bit chummier with her than he should have been.

"Can I have everyone's attention, _Please!_" The last word was more to her Captain, who lifted his hands in defence. Nanao shook her head. "Before we get too much into the festive party and some of us…" she turned to her Captain. "… get drunk…" she turned back, "we shall do the secret Santa gifts."

"You wound me, Nanao," Shunsui pouted.

Ichigo lightly snorted. "Deserves him right for always hitting on her in public like that," he mumbled.

"Who would like to do the honors of handing out the gifts this year?" asked Nanao to everyone in the room.

Senna stepped away from Ichigo. The two had been in a middle of dancing when Nanao had the music stopped. "If it isn't too much trouble, Lieutenant Ise, I would like to do it."

Nanao smiled to Senna. "Of course. That would be just great."

Senna moved over to the tree where the Secret Santa gifts were. She carefully leaned down onto her knees and soon pulled out a parcel, which said Rukia's name on it. She turned slightly, calling out the woman's name, which she easily stepped forward and took her parcel, opening it, revealing it to be a bunny shape pendant necklace. She looked at the tag inside the box on who it was from and it made her smile. Everyone knew she had a love for rabbits, which she called Chappy but having a gift from Ichigo, made it all the more sweeter as it brought back memories of when she first met him.

The next person Senna called for was for Kisuke. He stepped over, taking his parcel. He shook the box as it weighted barely anything. Shrugging, he tore the paper and soon revealed a new hat. He laughed.

Yoruichi looked at him. "Guess someone is saying you needed an upgrade."

"I would say so," he agreed. He looked at the tag seeing it was from Ulquiorra. His eyes widened as he snapped his head to the former forth Espada. He was not expecting that.

Next up was Soifon. She walked over taking her parcel, then stepped back over to Grimmjow, ripping open the present. The parcel soon revealed a bee shaped jar of candy shaped bees. Her eyes brightened in wonderment and looked at the tag inside the box. A gasp escaped her lips.

"What?" asked Grimmjow.

"It came from Urahara," she breathed.

"Guess he's not all bad, if he can give my sweet bee things she likes," he said just as his name was called. Moving away from his woman, he walked over to Senna, taking his parcel and tore it open as he walked away, revealing it to be tickets to his favorite band. "Ah ha! Tickets." Looking at the tag inside it showed the gift came from Captain Kuchiki. That was a surprise to him.

While Grimmjow had been opening up his gift, Senna began to call out other names. Orihime was the next one who received her gift and she was quite surprised to see her gift was from Senna herself and it was a cookbook for sweets.

"Oh wow!" she gasped. "I have to try some of these out! Thank you."

Senna smiled as she then handed Ichigo, which came from Orihime. To his major surprise she had given him a few action movies that he had wanted to get for a while since they were released on Blu-Ray but he never had a lot of chances to get out shopping lately.

He looked at his big-busted friend. "Thank you Orihime."

"You're welcome," she smiled.

Soon Renji and Nanao were given their gifts after Senna called a few other guests. For Renji, he was given a monkey shirt, which came from Yoruichi. He that thought was quite interesting to receive a gift like that as his Zanpakuto was a monkey. As for Nanao her gift came from Soifon and she was given Shakespeare collection novel. Her eyes sparkled in awe at seeing the book. She had read a few Shakespeare books but had wanted to get some of her very own.

More people were given their gifts from Senna and soon enough she began to call forth more Captains. The last Captain to receive a gift was Retsu and hers was from Grimmjow. To her surprise, she was given a pink MP3 player. She thought that was quite sweet of the former sixth Espada to give her something so unique.

With the all the gifts done. Senna saw there were two more gifts but saw one was for Soifon and one for Grimmjow. But she remembered giving them theirs. Guessing that those two were wanting to give a gift to each other before morning, she smiled before carefully standing back up and moved over to Ichigo to better inspect his gift while he could look at hers as well.

While the happy human couple were admiring their gifts, Grimmjow looked at Soifon. "Shall we have a taste of some of those delightful desserts?"

Soifon smiled. "Sounds like fun." She looked over, seeing Orihime and Ulquiorra taking a cuddling moment over by the fireplace. "And it would seem having a moment by the fire is out of the question."

Grimmjow looked over. He then grinned, before turning back to her. "Well we don't need the fireplace. We can create our own little moment after we have some tasty treats."

Shaking her head, Soifon moved towards the refreshment table and picked up a plate where she filled it with some sweets. Getting a drink in the process, she moved away from the table and headed towards a round dining table to eat. Grimmjow too, did the same. He filled a plate full of goodies before going over sitting beside his mate.

The two quietly talked amongst themselves, eating their goodies, while others around them continued to party with dancing and even taking some goodies as well. Some even went over and admired the tree. Soon enough some of the couples and even some non-couples began to leave the party, wanting to make an early night.

Seeing that the party was starting to wind down, Grimmjow stood from the table, going over to the secret Santa tree where there were two gifts left. Picking up the one he got for her, he then went back over to the table. "I have an early gift for ya," he replied.

"Really now?" she blinked. "I have one for you as well." She then got up and grabbed the final gift from under the tree.

Watching her head towards the tree, Grimmjow stood again, walking up behind her. From the corner of his eye, he could see the sofa was now free in front of the fireplace. The second Soifon grabbed the parcel for him, he grabbed her hand, pulling her to the sofa, taking a seat.

His fingers left her hand, tracing up the arm, to her cheek. The crackling of the fire was able to help them to forget those around them. "Sweet Bee." He held out his hand to her, showing the carefully wrapped small parcel.

Setting Grimmjow's beside her on the floor, she took the small parcel from his hands and ripped the paper, revealing a square velvet box. What was in it? Opening the box, she was given a surprise of her life. There inside was a bee shaped pendant made out of gold with tiny white diamonds along the body in the form of stripes. On the clasp of the necklace said 10K, meaning it was real gold.

She gasped at the beauty. "Grimmjow, it's beautiful."

"And it's only for you."

She looked up at him, stretching over to quickly kiss his lips. "Thank you."

Taking the box from her hands, he pulled the necklace out, unclasping it. She silently turned around. With her back to him, he draped his arms over her, bringing the chain up and around her neck clasping it again. Being close to her neck, he reached down, lightly nibbling on her neck.

She took a deep breath, as his breath reached over her ear, his lips moved up her neck. "Maybe we should head upstairs," he whispered.

She pulled back, turning and then pushed him back. "Not yet we don't," she replied. She reached down, grabbing his gift from her and lifted it into his lap. "First open this. I saw this earlier and just had to give it to."

"Jeez, you're no fun." Taking the box from her hands, he tore the paper off it. Pulling off the lid, revealing the black leather jacket she bought. "Ha!" he exclaimed. "Leather jacket, just perfect for my style."

"I know," she replied with a smile.

He leaned forward, placing a kiss on her lips. His gift was completely forgotten as he forced the kiss to be harder and the gift fell to the floor. His arms reached over, wrapping around her small back, pulling her even closer to him to the point she had to pull herself into his lap. Her arms wrapped around his neck as the two began a duel of tongues. Soon the two came up for air as their foreheads touched.

"Let's head to our room," he suggested as he worked on controlling his breathing.

"I agree," she said.

Removing his arms, he allowed her to stand and straighten her dress. As she stood, she picked up her gifts, secret Santa and the box of the new one. He too stretched over, picking up his dropped parcel and also grabbed his secret Santa gift. With arms around one another, the two left the banquet hall to their room. Neither said a word until reaching their room where he went and dropped his parcels onto the floor.

She turned to him, just in time for him to easily snatch her gifts from her hands and dropped them onto his parcels. No words were necessary as he his eyes showed what he wanted. He wanted to continue where the two left off down stairs.

His arms snaked around her back once more, pulling her flush to his body as he leaned down, claiming her lips once again but this time it was no gentle kiss like before. He was immediately going in for the kill. She had no time to blink but was quick to wrap her arms around his neck.

Delighted with her around his neck, he then stood to his full height, taking her with him. Her legs, not wanting to keep them dangling, wrapped around his waist, forcing the skirt of her dress to rise up to her hips, giving ability to do what she wanted.

With her around him, fully, he moved himself towards the bed, where he was quick to lean her down on it. Not once did they stop kissing until reaching the bed when his lips left hers to attack her neck. Her hands fisted into his hair as he nibbled at her neck.

Using her strength just then, she was able to roll him around so he was on the bed and her straddling him. She moved her neck away from his mouth only to be able to allow him to connect with her lips. He happily accepted the invitation just as his hands reached around the back, pulling down the zipper of her dress.

In no time at all the two were both under the blankets, showing each other how much they loved one another until the two fell asleep when it would be Christmas morning and they would get up and having Christmas morning where they'd get many more presents yet.


	3. Part 3

_Notes: A three-part story for Ankoku-Sensei in a trade for a holiday art. Notable pairings are Senna and Ichigo. Rukia and Renji. Yoruichi and Urahara. Orihime and Ulquiorra. Uryu and Nemu. Grimmjow and Soifon. Karin and Toshiro. Nanao and Shunsui. Momo and Izuru. Rangiku and Gin. _

_I greatly apologize for the lateness of this chapter. It was supposed to have been posted Christmas Eve, BUT due family crisis and then getting sick, I was heavily delayed. And now Christmas is soon going to be upon us so, now lets consider this an early Christmas story._

**Christmas Gathering**  
**Part 3**

Christmas morning had finally arrived. Slowly, the Soul Reapers began to wake from a night of great partying. Many, as predicted ended up drunk, but still were going to be able to function. Nanao was the first to wake and slowly made her way to each room on the two floors, knocking on doors to be sure everyone was awake. She had a feeling it was going to be the only way to get everyone up and around for the long day ahead. Luckily for her she woke shortly before seven and by the time eight rolled around, everyone was finally up. Satisfied, she then made her way to the banquet hall for the unveiling of the presents and then a large breakfast afterwards.

Grimmjow snarled as he woke from a wonderful dream dealing with his favorite bee. "I'm gonna to kill her."

"Don't be such a grouch," Soifon muttered in her pillow. "You just heard her." She opened one eye to peer at the clock on the nightstand. "And it is Christmas morning. There are lots of presents to unwrap, not to mention breakfast."

"But she could have given a better wake up instead of just banging and yell through the door," he grumbled.

"She wasn't that bad," Soifon tried to reason. "Lieutenant Ise just wants to get the ball rolling."

Grimmjow never said anything for a few moments. "Fine." He stretched over on the bed, giving Soifon a kiss on the cheek. "Merry Christmas."

She smiled, turning to look at him. "Merry Christmas," she replied back, kissing him.

He pulled away, pulling the covers of his body. "Let's take a shower before we go and join them."

"Don't have time right now," Soifon muttered as she sat up, knowing where he was going with that. There were many Soul Reapers who would be eager to get the presents dealt with.

"What!? No shower!" he growled, hoping he would have a little more private time with this 'wife'. With one look to the short woman, he could see she wasn't going to cave.

With a huff, Grimmjow went to the bathroom, soon emerging wearing pajamas. While he was gone, Soifon got up, getting dressed in nightclothes and a bathrobe. Immediately upon him emerging from the bathroom she went in. The two soon left their room and made their way to the banquet floor. A few Soul Reapers were already there, waiting, sitting at one of the tables, having morning tea and coffee.

"Wow! That's a lot of presents," Grimmjow remarked, looking at the large tree. "It's like there's more there this year than last year."

"What do you expect? This year, there are also humans having Christmas with us. Normally they have Christmas in their own homes," Soifon stated. She moved to the counter, leading to the kitchen, ordering herself and Grimmjow coffee.

Getting the coffee, Soifon moved over to a table. He soon joined her, taking the coffee she brought over for him. "You realize once the unwrapping starts, the floor is going to be a litter of paper? It'll be worse than last year."

"That's the point of Christmas morning," she replied. "To make a huge paper mess. Though I'm sure someone will pick up as we rip open presents."

"Merry Christmas!" cried out a very cheerful Orihime, wearing a Santa hat, along with Ulquiorra.

Her outburst alerted Grimmjow to look up. "What makes her so cheery in the morning?" he grumbled.

"Because for her Christmas is her favorite time of year," answered Yoruichi as she came up behind him. "Merry Christmas."

Soifon turned with a smile, giving her old mentor a Christmas greeting. She then saw Kisuke and fought back in rolling her eyes. Where it was Christmas, it was a day to play nice. Taking a deep breath, she even gave the man she hated a proper Christmas greeting, which he returned back with a smile.

Behind Orihime, Senna and Ichigo entered. "So what's the plan?" he asked.

"Presents first, breakfast later," Yoruichi answered.

Orihime looked at the tree and was not able to contain her excitement. "Look at all those presents! Christmas is my favorite time of year."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "So we've noticed."

Ulquiorra looked at the former Espada 6. "There is nothing wrong with her being a little over excited."

"Orihime has always been like that," Ichigo replied before going up to his over excited friend, giving her a hug. "Come on, let's get morning coffee and go over to the tree and wait for the others to arrive."

"Good idea," she said happily.

Soifon watched in slight amused how the young human woman strolled over to a table where there was coffee and tea being served.

Soon enough everyone had arrived for their morning drink whether it was coffee, tea or juice. Seeing they were all satisfied for the time being, Nanao walked over to the tree, getting everyone's attention.

"Merry Christmas everyone," she greeted with a smile. "Since we've all finally made it down and had our first morning drink, how about we move on to the gift exchange. Head Captain would you like to do the honors?"

The eldest Squad Captain moved from his table, carefully strolling over to the tree. He looked down at the petit Lieutenant. She wasn't the shortest Lieutenant, but she wasn't tallest either. "Thank you Lieutenant Ise," he said. "I would be delighted."

Nanao smiled as she stepped out of the way, allowing the eldest Soul Reaper to take a seat. He wasn't sitting more than two minutes before he reached down, lifting up a parcel, calling out the name of the person on the nametag, which was for his own Lieutenant.

The one called, reached over, opening his gift at the same time the Head Captain for another person and then another. Before long, the Head Captain was calling out a few people a second time while others hadn't received their first gift yet. As predicted, paper was going all over the place. Eventually the Head Captain had to stop, allowing everyone to catch up and for the shredded paper to be picked up.

For Orihime, she was having a grand ole' time as she opened one gift another. She even took any bows and stuck them to her head, which Grimmjow thought that was very childish, but kept quiet. He was more interested in seeing what his little Bee was getting.

For Soifon, she had received more bee looking trinkets and even a nice new shammy to clean her Zanpakuto. To her surprise in a few items were a couple new kimonos with bee designs. Beside her, Grimmjow had received a new kimono as well a new shammy as well to polish up the remains of his Hollow mask. He even received a few action movies and a couple new CDs he didn't have.

Each Soul Reaper was having a great time in opening their gifts, revealing new items to either match what they already had in their collections and other items that went with their favorite hobbies. Even the Head Captain was given gifts, which he greatly appreciated.

In time everything was all opened and all that was left was a room full of shredded paper. It was going to take a bit to clean up the mess. Being the head organizer for the gathering, Nanao assigned a small group to go around and clean up. She had another group assigned to begin on breakfast. The main part of Christmas morning was now over. It was time to get on to the rest of the day.

By the time the floor was completely cleaned up, the first set of served breakfast was ready. The table closet to th kitchen were served first, allowing time for others to take their things to their room. In time everyone was served, leaving the kitchen crew and Nanao the last to eat. Over at one table with Soifon, Grimmjow, Ichigo, Senna, Orihime, Ulquiorra, Kisuke and Yoruichi were having a quiet conversation amongst themselves. Soifon made sure to have Yoruichi sitting beside her and Grimmjow on the other side.

"I can't believe how much fun this is," Orihime exclaimed, grinning.

Grimmjow looked at her, giving her an odd look. "You're a strange one."

Orihime looked at him. "Everyone tells me that."

Shaking his head, Grimmjow returned back to his breakfast, deciding to ignore the others. He had plans later to have a moment alone with his beautiful Bee before Christmas Day was over. He knew many people were going to check out today of the hotel, heading back to the Soul Society.

"Soifon, thank you for the gift, it is really sweet," Yoruichi replied looking to the short woman.

Soifon nodded. "I'm glad you like it. It took me awhile to find the right one in the Soul Society. And when I saw it, it reminded me of you Lady Yoruichi."

"It's beautiful," Yoruichi grinned. "I'll hang in the living room."

"You know we should have a New Year's party," Senna said to Ichigo. "Perhaps we can invite everyone to the party."

"Hun, that's a lot of Soul Reapers for that," Ichigo replied as he took a bite of his food.

Kisuke looked to the young Soul Reaper substitute. "I think that might be a good idea. You can always suggest it to Lieutenant Ise and Captain Unohana and see what they think."

Orihime looked at the former Squad 12 Captain. "I think I might just do that. But I'll wait until after they get the kitchen all cleaned up." She looked to her boyfriend. "Did you want to head back home today?"

Ulquiorra looked at her with nod. "That might be a good idea. Things are going to start winding down and fast."

"Then we can be rid of you," Grimmjow said under his breath.

The two former Espadas silently stared at one another. Grimmjow more glaring while Ulquiorra just gave a blank stare. Neither wanted to move, waiting for the other to make the first move.

Soifon happened to glance over to witness the silent argument. She narrowed her eyes. "Grimmjow, are you wanting to head back to the Soul Society today?" She had to get his attention before the two Espadas attracted other attention.

He turned to her. "Yeah, why not? There's nothing else going on after breakfast is over."

"Alright, we'll plan to leave after we gather our things."

"So Ichigo did you want to have Christmas dinner with us?" suggested Yoruichi.

"I think dad wants us over to his place," replied the young man.

"Will Karin and Captain Hitsuagaya be going as well?"

"Yeah, I think so. You know those two are like inseparable."

Yoruichi chuckled as she turned to the now Captain of Squad 2. "What about you? Would you and Grimmjow like to come to dinner with us?"

Soifon nodded. "I like that," she said.

Grimmjow looked over to the dark skinned woman. "So dinner with the cat woman, this should prove entertaining. When shall dinner be?"

"Probably around 5, I think," replied the purpled haired woman. "What do you think?" She turned to Kisuke.

"I think that can be arranged well," he smiled. "Once we gather our things, we'll head home and start the preparations. Orihime, where are you having dinner with?"

Seeing her mouth was full of food, Ulquiorra looked at the man. "We've made plans with the Quincy to spend the time with him and Chad."

"That's good to know even Nemu and Uryu won't be alone for Christmas dinner," Ichigo said.

The group continue to eat their breakfast, keeping up with quiet conversations. When they were finished, they took their dishes towards the kitchen and helped out in cleaning up. With Nanao and the kitchen gang still eating, the first group to finish their breakfast were asked if they could help clean up the kitchen.

In time everything was cleaned up and everything was back to the way the room was before they had arrived for the party. It was then; people began to make their exit back to their rooms, allowing the banquet hall to be opened once again to the rest of the hotel, which was quick to be set up into banquet for the evening's Christmas meal for those staying in the hotel.

* * *

As the day wore on, Yoruichi and Kisuke were busy getting things ready for their Christmas dinner with all the trimmings. Instead of using their low table they often would use, a regular table with chairs was pulled out of storage. It would be the best way to serve dinner with the guests they were having.

The snow continued to lightly fall when Soifon and Grimmjow arrived at Kisuke's. The minute the small Squad Captain entered the house; she felt the urge to want to leave because of the man who owned the place. But she wasn't going to be rude to her former mentor. She came to visit Yoruichi not Kisuke, the arrogant jerk.

Grimmjow ignored Soifon's disgust over the man and stepped into the main part of the house, being sure to remove his shoes first at the entrance, which was in the store, currently closed for the holiday festivities. Soifon was quick to follow suit before making her way towards the kitchen where she knew Yoruichi would be.

"Just in time," replied the dark woman. "Dinner is about to be served in a few minutes."

"Is there anything I can help you with Lady Yoruichi?" Soifon asked.

The cat woman turned with a smile. "Well you can take the rolls into the dining room. Kisuke is in there right now just setting down the vegetables."

Soifon bit her tongue, not wanting to lash out about Kisuke in front of her mentor. Yoruichi loved the man even, which Soifon could not figure what the cat woman saw in him. "I will be honoured," she replied, picking up the plate of rolls, leaving the kitchen.

Kisuke lifted his head as Soifon entered the room. For once the man wasn't wearing his hat, just like this morning at breakfast, but that didn't change the short woman's opinion of the man. She knew him before he resorted to wearing that annoying bucket hat and she never liked him then.

"Nice to see you again," he grinned at her.

"Urahara, I'm only here because of Lady Yoruichi."

"Of course you are." He observed her carrying the rolls. "Set the rolls in the center."

Quietly she did as he suggested and then was quick to make her way back into the kitchen. She looked at Yoruichi who was holding several plates. Knowing what she wanted her to do, Soifon held her tongue once again, taking the plates and made her way back into the dining room.

Grimmjow entered the kitchen just as Yoruichi turned to him. "Here, why don't you take these into the dining room?" She held out the eating utensils. Normally they would use chopsticks but since this was Christmas, they were going to use regular cutlery.

"No hi or anything," he remarked. "Just throw something in my face. I'm not your servant."

She smirked. "Come on, Grimmjow, its Christmas. Be in the spirit."

"I'm as 'in the spirit' as I will be," he hissed. He then turned, making his way to the dining room only to find Soifon giving Kisuke dirty looks. "The cat woman conned me into bringing these in."

Kisuke smiled. "Thank you." He knew what Grimmjow meant as he always called her that since mating with Soifon. He took the utensils from the former Arrancar's hand and began to set the silver around the table in a proper fashion.

Without bothering to nod, Grimmjow walked over to Soifon, blocking her view of the blonde man. "Come on Bee, let's sit down and wait. I think everything is just about ready."

She looked at him. "As long as he's not beside me."

"Then do what you did this morning, the cat woman on one side and me on the other," he offered a little too gruffly.

Knowing he was right, she decided to go back into the kitchen to help Yoruichi with the last of the stuff. Minutes later both women returned with the rest of trimmings for dinner. It was now time to eat. Tessai and the two young adults who used to live with Kisuke, but now lived on their own, entered the room, taking their places around Kisuke. Tessai had been outside waiting for them to arrive.

Which only left three seats left for Yoruichi, Grimmjow and Soifon. Soifon breathed a quiet sigh of relief, knowing she wasn't going to be sitting beside Kisuke. Taking her seat, Grimmjow took one side as Yoruichi took the other. It didn't take long for everyone to start digging into the food.

"Soifon, would you like some?" Kisuke asked as he offered to hand her some of the meat over on his side.

"Yes," she answered simply, handing her plate to him, which he easily took and placed some meat for her. He then handed it back offering someone else some, which they happily took.

Light Christmas music played in the background as the group ate, speaking of random topics appropriate for the table. Kisuke went into a long drawn out story in how he learnt about Christmas and each person would then put in his or her two cents worth in. Hearing about the story annoyed Grimmjow greatly and suppressed a growl.

As the evening progressed on, the more Soifon was forced to listen to Kisuke, the harder it was getting for her to stand being in the same room as him. Before at the Christmas party and even that morning, she was able to keep her distance. Yes, in the past she had to deal with him on professional levels when giving him progress reports but those times were always strictly business and she would always conduct herself in a very professional manner.

But right now was a different matter all together. This time it was because of the holiday and she had no real big reason to be there. But she wanted to be there for Lady Yoruichi. The dark skinned woman was her mentor and she looked up to her even now though at first she was angry with her for disappearing without a word or trace.

Grimmjow ignored those around him as he continued to eat. He didn't mind the blonde. He couldn't figure out why his sweet bee didn't like him but he wasn't going to ask. Ever since he was saved and was allowed to live in the Soul Society, he learnt many things including about Christmas. But one thing he wasn't going to do no matter how bad others wanted him to; he wasn't going to sing those blasted carols. Soon enough dinner was over and dessert was now being served.

"Who wants pie?" asked Kisuke suddenly. "Yoruichi managed to get us some apple and pumpkin. Not to mention there's ice cream."

"I'll have ice cream Kisuke," Yoruichi replied.

"Lady Yoruichi," Soifon looked up. "Can you cut me a slice of apple?"

Yoruichi smiled. "Sure." She stood and went to the kitchen, as did Kisuke who then got what everyone else wanted. The couple knew how Soifon disliked the former Squad 12 Captain and would just do as she suggested.

Within minutes, the two returned with three bowls of ice cream and two pieces of pie for Soifon and Grimmjow. The group then ate the their dessert in peace. The young adults who once lived there, offered to remove the dinner dishes and put everything away. They weren't there for the preparations so it was only polite.

Both Kisuke and Yoruichi smiled at the offer and allowed the younger ones to clear the table. Soifon, no longer able to handle he blonde, took this time to excuse herself from the table, leaving part of her pie left. She needed some air.

Not bothering to grab her coat, she stepped out into the chill air. At least it was quiet. She took a few deep breaths, knowing Grimmjow was going to come upon her. Until he would find her, she would bask in the quietness of the evening with the white blanket all around her. For what seemed like forever, her lover soon finally appeared, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"Too stuffy in there for you?" he asked with sarcasm.

"What do you think?" she retorted. "That man is so infuriating."

"We can head back home whenever you'd like," he offered.

"I'm here mainly for Lady Yoruichi."

He frowned. "Of course you are." He leaned his head into her neck and carefully began to kiss at the light snowflakes falling onto her exposed skin. He greatly enjoyed nibbling on her neck. She leaned her head back against him, giving him more access.

"Besides it would be rude to leave Lady Yoruichi so soon," she tried to defend.

"Yes, but…" he stopped to nibble on her ear. "There's only so much you can take before getting really upset."

She pushed away from him long enough for her to turn around, wrapping her arms around his neck, having him lift her up so her feet dangled. His arms came around to wrap around her waist.

"This has been a good Christmas over all," she said, looking at him. "You like your gifts?"

"Especially the ones from my Sweet Bee," he grinned.

He was quick to lean in claiming her lips in a searing kiss as light snow continued to fall around them. Immediately from the kiss, Soifon no longer could feel the chill going through her body, since she was standing out there with no coat. With his body heat around hers and his lips devouring her, she felt completely warm. The cold no longer affected her.


End file.
